"An ode to a foodie"
You are the "mirepoix" of anybody's soul,
a thousand times worth more than gold, let truth be told,
to live, love and share good food,
and never miss a minute of this magical interlude!
Nazarina.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

On a much more lighter note, here's wishing everyone happy holidays !!! I hope only for peace and that all your wishes be granted! I am taking a littlebreak from blogging, but hope to "see" you in the new year, God willing!I lied, my only other wish is that there be more than 24 hours in a day for all my unfinished projects!!! I just cannot seem to cope this year!!! I shall however visit all of you when I am in need of beautiful cuisine and company!!!I leave for now with a few of my inedible creations. These will however complement the dinner table and powder room!

I made so many of these this past week....enough to light up all of Denver ha! ha! People love to put these lemontinicandles on their bar. They have a refreshing lemon scent.

Happy Hanukkah! (vanilla soap)

Kitchen flavors is hosting a "Food in colors"......white event where the end result has to be white. Click on the logo below for further details and join in, it is fun ! She wants a dish really but all I could come up with, were this candle, soaps and a napkin fold. Even though they are all inedible, they sure smell good!

Candy cane tini candle ( Moroccan mint) (Merry Christmas!)

Candy cane soap.( smells like spearmint )

White and dark chocolate soap.(smells like chocolate!)

My dinner jacket fold with a" shirt & tie" made from fondant. This "shirt and tie" is the only edible piece in this post but I still advise people not to eat it, it is just for the presentation.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Here's wishing everyone a peaceful and joyful Eid!!!!! I thank God that I have met you all!!!!!

I also wish everyone a merry Christmas and just happy Holidays! Please guys do take care of St Nick by making him your lovely yummies! Remember he has to travel far and wide!!!!!! LOL!

This seductive cheesecake will have the "jolly fat man" fire up his sleigh and head on over to my house in a jiffy LOL! This Christmassy delight with its sassy stripes hit the jingle bell jackpot and will have anyone dance to the tune of yule time rock!

Look at the inside of this beauty!

It has a Mcvites digestive wheat cookie crust, mascarpone,coconut cream, chocolate and very little cream cheese.

Adorned with cranberries and a sugared rosemary garland,this yummy delight will have you ready for any Holidayaction, whatever it may be! Just brush the rosemary withwarmed agave nectar and lightly roll in organic sugar.

This " orange haze" my dear friends, is one of the manyprojects that I am currently busy with. I am on a missionto develop my own organic natural food colors with theirrespective flavors to match and have already developedseveral other colors as well. Stay tuned to future posts,you might just like what I have to offer!

Please use organic ingredients when possible! I have developed my very own recipe because I do not like the idea of too much cream cheese. Also place a separate pan of hot water on the bottom rack just under the spring form pan, this will keep the medium somewhat humid and moist and will prevent unnecessary cracking of the cheesecake. This is another thing I try to avoid and that is baking the cheesecake in a water bath. Set your oven on 325 degrees!

Coconut cream and chocolate striped cheesecake. This is for a 10 inch spring form pan

Process the cookies and almonds in a food processor, mix in the spices and also roasted coconut, melt the butter and incorporate into this mixture. Grease the pan, place a round piece of parchment on the bottom of the pan and then press this cookie mixture firmly over the base and up the sides to form a shell. Refrigerate for a couple of hours.

filling:

8 oz mascarpone ( Rm temp)

6oz coconut cream. ( It has to be cream and not milk!)

8 oz cream cheese (Rm temp)

4 Egglands best eggs ( Rm temp)

1T vanilla extract ( The one from Santo Domingo is really good!)

2t coconut extract

2/3 c organic superfine sugar

6 oz of melted dark Valrhona chocolate

1/4 c H2o

Beat all the cheeses and then add the sugar and beat until incorporated. Add all the extracts and beat for another minute. Add all the eggs at once and beat until incorporated. DO NOT OVER BEAT! I found out that if you over beat, you incorporate more volume into the batter, and this expands in the oven and later "deflates" and causes the cheesecake to crack really badly. Much worse can happen to the makings of a cheesecake here in Colorado (5280 ft above sea level). Ha! ha!Divide this mixture and fold in the melted chocolate and the water into the one half. So now you have a white batter and a chocolate batter. Spoon a cup of the white mixture on the bottom of the crust and tilt the pan so that it covers the bottom. Now take a cup of the chocolate mixture and pour into one steady motion in the middle of the white mixture. This motion will spread the chocolate mixture outwards. Continue with a cup of white mixture on top and in the middle of this chocolate mixture and so forth..... and so forth until you have no more batters. At this point you will be able to see very distinct white and chocolate circles. Place in the preheated oven on a sheet pan and bake for about 45-55 mins. Also cover with aluminum for the first 30 mins. of baking time. Turn up the oven to 350 degrees for the rest of the baking time and remove aluminum foil. When done, turn off oven and leave the cake in the oven to cool with the oven door ajar. You have to refrigerate this cheesecake overnight and decorate with more melted chocolate on the top, like my picture that is of course if you love chocolate the way I do!

Cranberry preserves ( simmered in Cran raspberry Ocean Spray juice)

Boil a package of cranberries with 2T organic sugar crystals and a half of a package of "Kojel" in about 2 cups of cran raspberry Ocean Spray juice( this juice is amazingly not sweet at all like other juices), the juice of a fresh orange, teaspoon of vanilla and a stick cinnamon until a rolling boil and then simmer for another 2 mins. You do not want the cranberries to be mushy! Sprinkle with some orange powder or orange zest. I shall divulge the recipe for the natural food colors later!

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rendevous with Lubna

About Me

I live, love and share good food in a very jovial and unpretentious manner. I believe that very seldom should overindulgence supersede constraint.
So let us savor our food!
Please join me on this culinary journey as I cook my way through an array of gastronomic delights!
Almost every story begins with “My Grandmother”. Well, so does mine!
She was an outstanding confectioner and demanded nothing but perfection. My mother on the other hand was a runway fashion designer and dressmaker and nothing short of a fabulous baker and gourmet cook as well.
My family is of Malaysian descent and grew up in South Africa where almost everything was natural and organic. My Grandmother and Mother exposed us to this type of lifestyle at a very early age and for this I shall remain eternally grateful.
Their mantra was that hospitality would get you everywhere, so now I am trying to follow in their footsteps.
I too roast the coconut and grind the spices and use only the freshest butter and cream because ultimately this love for food is what generates everlasting friendships.
This blog is in memory of my Mother and Grandmother and all the great ladies before them!